Baku. In the future, if necessary, other sources of gas may be connected to the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project as well, EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan Kestutis Jankauskas told Trend.

"In the future if there will be a bigger demand and more possibilities to expand and transport more, it could be done with several additional pumping stations," he said. "And then, of course, the question on additional gas may come on. And looking Further East, towards Turkmenistan it is potentially interesting."

"Secondly, last year and this year at the ministerial meeting of the SGC Advisory Council there were talks of potential demand and possibilities for expansion, but also about additional sources of the gas," he noted. "If you look and the demand and potential expansion, I think it is primarily the countries of Western Balkans, there is an interest from their side. I think some projects have been developed to that extent. So, the SGC is not the end, it is an enabler and a beginning."

The Southern Gas Corridor project envisages the creation of a pipeline infrastructure for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas, which is extracted as part of the development of the Shah Deniz Stage 2 field, to Europe via Turkey.

The main components of the project are Shah Deniz Stage 2, expansion of the South Caucasus pipeline Baku-Georgia-border with Turkey, construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) from Turkey’s eastern border to the western border and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) connecting Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy.

Supplies of Azerbaijani gas to Europe are expected in early 2020 in the amount of 10 billion cubic meters. In addition, 6 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas will be supplied to the western regions of Turkey. Deliveries to Turkey began in the summer of 2018.